Jurgen Klopp admitted Diogo Jota was substituted after sustaining an “ankle ligament” injury, and bemoaned what Liverpool struggled to do against Inter.
Liverpool were given a taste of their own medicine for 75 minutes against Inter Milan. The Serie A champions pressed high and fought every battle in the middle of the park. At half-time, Inter were on top in the duels department and possession was split 50/50.
However, Liverpool kept their composure, with centre-back pairing Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate in particular excelling.
A 0-0 draw in the away leg would’ve been a handy result after the abolishment of away goals. However, substitute Roberto Firmino went one better when glancing home from a corner.
Mohamed Salah got in on the act after a largely quiet evening, putting Liverpool in the box seat with a two-goal lead ahead of the return leg at Anfield.
PLAYER RATINGS: Liverpool ace gives Klopp headache with best performance yet, as Firmino provides timely reminder
Speaking to BT Sport after the match, Klopp confirmed Jota sustained an injury to his ankle ligament. However, despite the extent of his injury not yet being known, the fact Klopp confirmed Jota could’ve played on has raised hope the issue is not serious.
“I’m really happy apart from obviously Diogo had to go off with something around the ankle ligament,” said the German manager.
“We will see, we don’t know exactly but he could play on, which maybe is a good sign. But at half-time it was swollen anyway, so we had to change.
“So apart from that, it’s just another strong performance and I’m really happy about that.”
On the game in general, Klopp described the contest as “incredible” after Inter Milan went toe-to-toe with the Reds. However, he did bemoan the fact Liverpool couldn’t sustain possession for longer spells in the face of intense Inter pressure.
“It was an incredible physical game and we had to find a way,” added Klopp. “In a game like this you have to keep the ball longer and it didn’t happen often enough.
“We didn’t have a brilliant day but we had a good enough day to be a deserved winner.”
Can Liverpool really win the quadruple under Jurgen Klopp this season?
Van Dijk relished San Siro cauldron
Virgil van Dijk also spoke to the press, telling BT Sport: “Tough place to come, a very good team.
“Difficult to break down and I really enjoyed the atmosphere and the crowd. Set-piece again and it’s a good strength of ours. A good result to take back to Anfield.
“You try everything and they did very well defensively. But Bobby found the space and a great goal. It is a well-deserved win, very hard work.
“Everyone expects to be under pressure, it is the Champions League. The message before was you need to be ready to suffer and do the hard work.
“It is a very good performance, clean sheet and happy days.”
READ MORE: Target raises Liverpool hopes, says ‘nothing has been decided’ despite claims transfer was done
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMieWh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LnRlYW10YWxrLmNvbS9saXZlcnBvb2wva2xvcHAtc3dlYXRpbmctam90YS1hbmtsZS1saWdhbWVudC1pbmp1cnktYmVtb2Fucy13aGF0LWxpdmVycG9vbC1kaWRudC1kby1vZnRlbi1lbm91Z2jSAQA?oc=5
2022-02-16 22:48:29Z
Tidak ada komentar:
Posting Komentar